Q:
spark plug arcing at boot

asked by
Leslie R
on
November 20, 2016

Car was missing, eventually stalling and check engine light on.. Towed to garage. Was told spark plug wasnt put back in the whole way after a heater hose that split 2 days before was fixed. (?). Drove it next day and after 10 miles of highway driving got off at exit it started missing and check engine light on. Barely got it to Auto Zone and diagnostic was #2 spark plug misfire. Bought a new plug and it did the same thing. The guy that helped me said it was arcing on the spark plug boot. After being picked up tow truck driver who also owns a garage he said he would tow it to his place which was closer to save AAA towing fee and take a look. Distributor cap was dry. So he saw a small defect in the SP boot where it was arcing and "McGuyvered" it by melting the defected part and patching it with more rubber. seems to have worked so far.. drove about 15 miles
My question is have you ever heard of this and do you think it will hold

My car has 143000 miles.
My car has an automatic transmission.

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Spark wires and boots do age, get damaged and otherwise fail. An accompanying symptom can be the arcing your describe, or voltage leakages, which simply means that the energy that was supposed to go toward firing the plug gets diverted. That "loss" is what causes the spark plug to misfire, of course then causing the check engine light to illuminate. All of the plug wires should be replaced, as a set, with new wires that are a reputable brand and preferably Honda OEM. There is no such thing as an acceptable, in the field, "repair" to a spark wire, even if the wire "appears" to be presently working. Spark plug wires carry 10,000 volts or more and consequently have to be in perfect, undamaged condition in order to both function as intended and also be safe to handle. If you would like to schedule replacement of the spark plug wires, a certified Mechanic from YourMechanic can do that during a mobile visit to your home or office. If the spark plugs themselves have high mileage (i.e., outside of Honda recommended service interval), deposits, or damage the plugs should be replaced as well.

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